Orlando Sentinel Letter

The Orlando Sentinel reports that George Zimmerman’s father, Robert Zimmerman, sent them a one page letter.

The most interesting part of the letter:

"At no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin. When the true details of the event became public, and I hope that will be soon," the letter said, "everyone should be outraged by the treatment of George Zimmerman in the media."

The implication of that is that George merely got out of his car to look around, and then Trayvon surprised him by charging and attacking. Which would explain why there was grass on George’s back, as reported previously. He was knocked to the ground.

With a black thug beating him up, it’s understandable he would defend himself by shooting. Remember, there’s no report about Trayvon being shot in the back. I'm sure if Travyon had been shot in the back, we would have heard about it by now.

If that's the way it happened. There's no convincing evidence that it didn't happen that way. This is an outrageous case of media bias. The media decided what they story should be, and then they are trying to find facts justifying that depiction while ignoring contrary evidence.

Comments

[TC]

Still -- in most places, self-defense would not be a viable defense if the facts are as stated.

Zimmerman could claim self-defense if Martin had pulled a weapon. However, if Martin was merely punching him, self-defense would not justify shooting him.

The anger on the left seems to be more to do with the relevant Florida law than anything else. Basically, if Florida's law were similar to other states', Zimmerman would not be able to claim self-defense.

[Scipio Africanus]

"With a black thug beating him up, it’s understandable he would defend himself by shooting."

Ok, I get it. You're not even going to try to be reasonable-minded on this one. You're going off the edge now and bringing things into your "analysis" of this case that are outlandish and probably personal.

[sabril]

As another poster pointed out, if this fellow's name was Gonzalez, nobody would care.

The public, and especially the media, is just so hungry for stories of whites mistreating blacks. Much like in the Duke Lacrosse case.

[Black Death]

On February 27, the eyewitness to the incident, who had called 911, told Fox News Orlando:

The guy on the bottom, who had a red sweater on, was yelling to me, 'Help! Help!' and I told him to stop, and I was calling 911," said the witness, who asked to be identified only by his first name, John.
John said he locked his patio door, ran upstairs and heard at least one gun shot.
"And then, when I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on the top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point."

Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/seminole_news/022712-man-shot-and-killed-in-neighborhood-altercation#ixzz1pxxMrviL

....

On March 16, the Sanford police reported:

The witness reports that George Zimmerman was on the ground and Trayvon is on top of him punching him.
The witness says that George Zimmerman was screaming and yelling for help.
Police arrive and find Zimmerman bleeding on his face and the back of his head. He also has had grass stains on his back. All this confirms the story told by Zimmerman and the witness.
Police play the 911 tape for Trayvon Martin's father, who tells police that the voice screaming is not the voice of his son.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Zimmerman was on the ground being punched when he shot Trayvon Martin - Charleston Charleston Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/charleston-conservative-in-charleston-sc/zimmerman-was-on-the-ground-being-punched-when-he-shot-trayvon-martin#ixzz1pxyYL9PA

....

Florida statute 760.013(3) says:

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

....

By the way, the unfortunate Mr. Martin, represented in many MSM accounts as a "model student," was serving a five day suspension from school at the time of his death.

I found all this stuff pretty readily on the Internet. Not difficult at all. So it looks like you're on the money again, HS.

[Conquistador]

Race hustler Obama apparently wants federal inquiries into this incident. It's gonna be hilarious when he looks like a fool later. Hopefully with enough time remaining before the election the Jewish & Cuban communities in Florida won't forget this.

[tg]

I'm still going to wait till every piece of witness is laid out, but from the beginning there has always been a very reasonably chance that Zimmerman had a good claim to self-defence.

This could turn out to be another Duke lacross case but at least with those Duke kids they had well off parents. This Zimmerman fellow is public enemy #1 right now.

[Disgruntled]

The eye-witness says that Zimmerman was on the ground calling for help while Martin punched him in the face. After running indoors to call the police, he heard a shot and then looked to see Martin lying on the ground.

The one thing this is not is a lynching by a white guy. The media seems to ignore that Zimmerman was getting beaten prior to the shooting.

The crucial piece of information is who started the physical altercation. If Zimmerman first grabbed Martin, then Martin might have been punching Zimmerman in self-defense. I'd do that if some fat weirdo grabbed me. If Zimmerman questioned him and Martin attacked, then it would be a different story.

Strange that the media have decided this is the worst crime in all of history. The police shoot people in questionable circumstances all the time.

[TC]

"The crucial piece of information is who started the physical altercation. If Zimmerman first grabbed Martin, then Martin might have been punching Zimmerman in self-defense. I'd do that if some fat weirdo grabbed me. If Zimmerman questioned him and Martin attacked, then it would be a different story."

Yep. And it's also crucial to figuring out whether it's self-defense. You can't claim self-defense if you started the altercation.

[Doug1]

I completely agree as I said here at GL Piggy:

http://glpiggy.net/2012/03/23/the-clean-black-victim/#comment-35286

Also at black blogger Abagond's place. Naturally they're not happy with me, which isn't new.

http://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/should-george-zimmerman-be-arrested/#comment-118878

[Doug1]

Oh and Trayvon broke Zimmerman's nose.

Zimmerman by the way has an Hispanic mother but a Jewish father. He looks very Hispanic and would be identified as such by most Americans. He also apparently has black relatives.

[Lefty Jones]

"However, if Martin was merely punching him, self-defense would not justify shooting him."

So true:

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhu59teh7s7X88V1c7

[Disgruntled]

That isn't true. The standard in almost every state is a reasonable man standard for fear of life or severe bodily injury. Repeatedly punching someone in the head while on top of them can kill them or cause brain damage depending on how hard the blows are. This is why the UFC pulls the fighter off and calls the fight when the man receiving the blows stops showing the ability to actively try to defend himself. Obviously, a trained fighter can try to clinch if someone has you in the mount position, but there seems little reason to believe that Zimmerman was a trained fighter.

If a strange teenager were to repeatedly punch me in the head from the mount, I'd shoot him. And I've been in my share of fights long ago. That's why the one of the key questions is who started this fight.

[nebbish]

"Zimmerman by the way has an Hispanic mother but a Jewish father."

Are you sure that Zimmerman's father is Jewish. The name means "carpenter" and is not exclusively a Jewish name, even spelled with only one n.